Improv and Magic

In today's episode I chat with my friend, Casey Casperson. Casey is a fantastic improv actor, teacher, and comedian, and is co-owner of Sick Puppies Comedy, a fantastic comedy show that performs at the Doghouse Theater in Boca Raton, Florida.  This guys is one of the most passionate and driven individuals I’ve ever met.  Casey is a hard worker and a true gentlemen.  You’ll hear a lot about how hard he hustles, and stays committed to seeing every project through to the very end. Learn more about Casey Casperson and Sick Puppies by visiting their websites, sickpuppiescomedy.com and doghousetheater.com to find out about their shows and classes.

This is the first of a new segment called LD's Tips, where I share some of tips I've learned on becoming a better improvisor and magician (and some are for both!). These will be shared at various times during this season, so be sure to tune in for some tips you might find useful. Today's first tip is on how to start a scene. How do you get a scene going? What's the first thing you should do when your scene begins? What do you need to do right away? In this tip, I share what I do when I begin my scenes, and as you'll hear, everything I need is already there in front of me.

Today we officially kick off Season 2 with the very special Stacey Hallal. Stacey is the founder and artistic director of Curious Comedy Theater in Portland, Oregon, and has been performing, teaching, and directing improv for over 20 years.  She’s trained and performed at Second City, iO, Annoyance, and ComedySportz in Chicago, and has performed and taught improv and sketch comedy at over 100 festivals across North America.  Stacey is also the creator of her very popular improvised show called Ruby Rocket Private Detective, an incredibly inventive and amazing show which she’s performed with many other great performers, like Maribeth Monroe, Stephanie Weir, Amber Nash, and Colin Mochrie. Stacey holds a very special place in my heart.  Because it was watching her duo with Mark Sutton at the Miami Improv Festival many years ago that completely changed me and made me realize the type of improv I really wanted to do. Learn all about Stacey's theater Curious Comedy Theater at curiouscomedy.org, and find out more about her show Ruby Rocket Private Detective at rubyrocketpi.com.

Today is our season finale of Improv and Magic Season 1! Today, we're sharing my favorite moments from all of my conversations with my amazing guests. Some of them are meaningful, others are funny, some are even both! You'll hear my favorite moments from these great guests (in order of appearance): David Christopher Marlene Marcos Anthony Francis Rick Munarriz Mark Mocahbee John Sturk Jonathan Freudman Tara DeFrancisco & Rance Rizzutto Kathleen Kenny KC Korge Joe Bill David Hepburn and Alex Taylor David Razowsky Nelson Velazquez Carisa Hendrix (aka Lucy Darling) Susan Messing Be sure to tune in to Season Two of Improv and Magic, where we'll have more conversations with more great people, plus the premiere of a new segment called LD's Tips.

Today's guest is another true legend in the world of improv, Susan Messing. She’s one of the founding members of The Annoyance Theater, where she has created roles in over thirty original productions including the longest-running musical in Chicago, Co-Ed Prison Sluts.  Susan teaches and performs at the Annoyance Theater and the iO Theater and has also taught improvisational comedy for DePaul University, The University of Chicago and Loyola University.  Her essays have been published in The Second City Almanac of Improvisation and in Charna Halpern's book, Art By Committee.  Susan has also had multiple television and movie appearances, including a role in the film “Let’s Go to Prison”.  We talk a little about that experience and how much she loved it. Susan is known all over for being a strong, unfiltered performer.  She has been a source of inspiration to performers everywhere, including myself.  We had a very honest and fun conversation today, and I’m so excited to share this conversation with all of you!

Today's guest is the amazing Carisa Hendrix, also known by her character Lucy Darling. Carisa is an award winning magician, circus stunt performer and fire eater.  She was awarded Stage Magician of the Year twice at the world famous Magic Castle, she was a recipient of the Carlton Award from the Magic Circle in the UK, and also received Magical Valentine’s Magician of the Year award from Vanish Magic Magazine and Remarkable Magic.  And those are just a few of the many awards she’s received over the years. She is also in the Guinness Book of World Records for her fire-eating stunt “Longest Torch Teething”, and for 24 fire torches ignited using electricity through the human body. Carisa has appeared on the cover of various prominent magic magazines such as Genii, Vanish Magazine, and Penguin Monthly, and has also been on many well-known television shows such as Masters of Illusion and Penn & Teller: Fool Us. Find out more about Carisa Hendrix by visiting her website carisahendrix.com, and follow her YouTube channel to watch her amazing performances.

My guest today is a very talented and passionate performer, Nelson Velazquez. Nelson Velazquez performs non-stop at venues and festivals all over the country. His most popular shows include Los Improviachis, the world's only improvised Mariachi bank, and The Grid, an online improv comedy show. He is also the founder of Improductions LLC, which is focused to push do-it-yourself productions in the Chicagoland area. Nelson Velazquez also teaches improv at the world famous Second City. We have a great conversation about how he got into improv, and his passion for sharing his Latin heritage in his performances. Learn more about his company Improductions LLC by visiting improductionsllc.com, and Los Improviachis at losimproviachis.com.

Today's guest is my improv hero, David Razowsky. Dave has performed in 10 revues at Chicago's Second City performing with the likes of Steve Carell, Stephen Colbert, Amy Sedaris, and Rachel Dratch. He also served as Artistic Director of The Second City Hollywood, and has conducted countless worldwide workshops and performances. Dave's approach to improv is simple: Your present awareness is the only thing you need to create compelling, smart, truthful, and surprising scenes. Period. No games, no preconceived premises, no ideas, no ego. All that matters is now. Dave also did a TEDx Talk which he titled “Life: The Product is the Process". This year, he released his long awaited book titled "A Subversive's Guide to Improvisation: Moving Beyond Yes, And", which is currently available on paperback at Amazon.com. This man has been a huge source of inspiration to me, mainly because his methodology reiterates what I firmly believe: Improv is Acting. Find out more about David Razowsky at his website, davidrazowsky.com.

My guests today are David Hepburn and Alex Taylor, and together, they are Cuzzins! David and Alex are actually cousins in real life, and in their duo show they provide comical group therapy to the audience and act out potential solutions…or at least what they would do!  Cuzzins has been performed in multiple venues and improv festivals around the country, and audiences everywhere have been raving about this amazing show. In this conversation, we share a lot of deep stuff and also laugh a whole lot.   Be prepared to adjust your volume, because many times we burst out in a lot of insane laughter!  I love and appreciate these guys so much, and I hope you’ll appreciate them too!

Today's guest is regarded as one of the best teachers of improvisation in America today, the one and only Joe Bill! He is one of the founding members of Annoyance Theater in Chicago, he was the Director of Corporate Training at iO, and a Teacher & Guest Artist in Residence at Second City.  Joe performs and teaches all over the world, and has been an inspiration to improv actors for so many years.  He’s also one half of the show Bassprov, an improv show with two guys fishing, which he performs with Mark Sutton.  He's a true gentleman, an outstanding performer, an influential teacher, and also a proud cancer survior. Learn more about Joe Bill at his website integratedimprovisation.com to learn about Joe, and how you can contact him for improv workshops for actors and business, in-person or virtually.